Duke Ellington Symphonic Ellington CD

Personnel: Duke Ellington (piano); Duke Ellington; Lawrence D. Brown, Lawrence Brown (trombone); Ernie Shepard (double bass); Ray Nance (violin, cornet); Russell Procope (clarinet, alto saxophone); Jimmy Hamilton (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Harry Carney (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); Johnny Hodges (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves (tenor saxophone); Cootie Williams, Roy Burrowes, Cat Anderson (trumpet); Buster Cooper (trombone); Chuck Connors (bass trombone); Sam Woodyard (drums).
Liner Note Author: Stanley Dance.
Recording information: Germany; Milan, Italy; Paris, France; Stockholm, Sweden.
In 1963 Duke Ellington realized a longtime goal, to record some of his extended works using both a symphony orchestra and his regular big band. Included on this fine CD are the three movements of "Night Creature," the relatively brief "Non-Violent Integration," "La Scala," and an adaptation of Ellington's "Harlem Air Shaft." With most of his all-star soloists heard from in this program and a complete avoidance of trying to make his music sound so-called "respectable" or self-consciously third stream, Ellington's arrangements keep the strings from weighing down the proceedings and the music is actually quite successful. ~ Scott Yanow
In 1963 Duke Ellington realized a longtime goal, to record some of his extended works using both a symphony orchestra and his regular big band. Included on this fine CD are the three movements of "Night Creature," the relatively brief "Non-Violent Integration," "La Scala," and an adaptation of Ellington's "Harlem Air Shaft." With most of his all-star soloists heard from in this program and a complete avoidance of trying to make his music sound so-called "respectable" or self-consciously third stream, Ellington's arrangements keep the strings from weighing down the proceedings and the music is actually quite successful. ~ Scott YanowDown Beat (6/93, p.51) - 3 Stars - Good - "...THE SYMPHONIC ELLINGTON involves a now-fully-stabilized 1963 personnel plus, in [annotator Stanley] Dance's words, `some 500 of the best talents from the symphonic resources of Paris, Hamburg, Stockholm and Milan'..."